1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to gas distribution plates utilized in semiconductor wafer processing equipment, and more particularly to a gas distribution plate or faceplate for use in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chambers.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a CVD chamber, a gas distribution plate is commonly used to uniformly distribute gases into a chamber. Such a uniform gas distribution is necessary to achieve uniform deposition characteristics on the surface of a substrate located within the chamber. The gas distribution plate is generally connected to a gas box above the gas distribution plate. The gas box is typically water-cooled to a temperature of approximately under 100 degrees Celsius. A heater is generally disposed in a substrate support member beneath the gas distribution plate. The heater is typically heated to a temperature of approximately between 100 to 600 degrees Celsius. Consequently, the temperature of the gas distribution plate is somewhere in between the temperature of the gas box and the temperature of the heater. However, since the gas distribution plate is connected to the gas box, the temperature of the gas distribution plate is generally closer to the temperature of the gas box than the temperature of the heater. As a result of the low temperature of the gas distribution plate (in comparison to the temperature of the heater), a high amount of film is often deposited on the gas distribution plate during processing, which leads to a longer chamber cleaning period and an increase in clean gas consumption.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for an improved gas distribution plate.